The Courtship of Coates
by NadaZimri
Summary: What happens when a Russian, a law student, and an Academy student all fall for a certain yeoman? It's my first J.A.G. Fic, so please be kind.
1. Welcome Surprises

DISCLAIMER ~ Well, I definitely don't own J.A.G.... wish I did...anyways, you catch the drift...  
  
A/N ~ Okay, due to constant whining from a friend of mine *coughsancticough*, I've decided to write this fanfic. Let me know whatcha think, or I won't continue, lol. Oh, and any ideas/suggestions are welcome. Umm, and one other thing, some slight discrepancies might be present, but chances are, I did it on purpose. R & R!  
  
Chapter 1: Welcome Surprises  
  
1630 ZULU  
  
J.A.G. Headquarters  
  
Harm's Office  
  
Harm stood in his office cleaning up the mess of files that laid on his desk, when someone knocked on the frame of his door.  
  
"Commander?"  
  
Harm's head immediately snapped up. "Hey Bud! Come in. Can I, uh, help you with anything?" he said as he continued shuffling through the files.  
  
"Yeah. Harriet wanted me to make sure you're still coming to the Valentine's Day party."  
  
"Wouldn't miss it. What time's it at again?" As Harm asked this, someone else strode through his door.  
  
"What time's what at?" questioned a young, blonde man who had a smile on his face that very much resembled Harm's.  
  
"Sergei! What're you doing here?" Harm asked, quite astonished.  
  
"I'm in Washington for a couple weeks, and I thought..." Sergei stated as he began playing with a paperweight that was sitting on his brother's desk. "That maybe I could stay with you."  
  
"Of course!" Harm was still somewhat shocked, but pleased.  
  
Bud, who had been silent until now, finally spoke. "Well, I better get back to work, and let you two catch up. The party's at 1900. Oh, and you're more than welcome too, Sergei."  
  
"See ya there Bud." Harm said as his friend re-entered the bullpen.  
  
"So what party?"  
  
"Valentine's..." Harm gave his younger brother a look of disbelief. "So why exactly are you in Washington?"  
  
"Do I need a reason?"  
  
"Well, it's not as if it's just a casual drive into the big city. You live half a world away, Sergei."  
  
Sergei let out a defeated sigh. "You're right. I came here so I could get away...after Galina and I broke up, Russia has become empty to me. I thought that perhaps I could escape for a time here."  
  
"Well, you know you're always welcome." Harm said, a smile on his face.  
  
..............................  
  
Petty Officer Jen Coates' job at J.A.G. was as the admiral's yeoman. As such, on some days the job went extremely slow. Today was one of those days. So as she was sitting there waiting for a new task to be given, she was thinking of all the people that she'd met since she first arrived there. There was Commander Rabb, of course, who she had met during that last messy season of her life. Then there was Colonel Mackenzie, who she didn't know terribly well, but she knew would end up marrying the Commander. Lieutenant Roberts and Sims were always there for her when she needed them...the list went on and on...but one person that she couldn't stop thinking about was Petty Officer Tiner. He had been the yeoman before her, but had left to pursue law himself. She knew he was rather...well, ditzy, is the only word to describe his behavior at times, but she also knew that she liked him. He had this innocence about him, and was one of the sweetest people she knew.  
  
As she was thinking on all of this, someone walked up to her desk. Half paying attention to the form in front of her, but still very deep in thought she said, "The Admiral's busy right now. If you like I can ask him when a more convenient time would be." She jumped when she realized that the person was laughing at her.  
  
"Tiner! What are you doing here?"  
  
"Well, I didn't have anything better to do, so I thought I'd come and visit." he said, one of his classic goofy grins spilling across his face. Just as he said this, the Admiral's voice boomed from within his office.  
  
"Coates! I thought I told you to stay out of my personal business!" Admiral Chegwidden more hollered than said as he emerged from his office.  
  
"I-I am, sir." Coates looked directly at Tiner as she said this, and Tiner responded with a knowing look.  
  
"Then would you care to explain this?" The Admiral held in his hands a set of rings. Weddings bands, to be exact.  
  
"Um, well, uh, sir...they were delivered to the office this morning, and I didn't know what to do with them, so I put them in your office."  
  
The Admiral sighed heavily then glanced at Tiner. "Tiner. What are you standing around for? If you're going to be here, then do something other than gawk at my yeoman, damn it!" With that, he walked back into his office, leaving the two Petty Officers quite flustered. As soon as his door was shut, a smirk emerged on his face.  
  
..............................  
  
1200 ZULU  
  
Roberts' Home  
  
Rosslyn, Virginia  
  
The sun was just beginning to peak as Mike Roberts crawled out of bed. *It's only 0700 on a Saturday! What the hell is that scraping noise?* He thought this to himself rather grumpily, as he pulled on his civies to go investigate the cause of his disrupted slumber. As he looked out the front window, he saw someone scooping the driveway.  
  
*Who IS that?*  
  
Grumbling as he went, the young man stomped out of the room, grabbing his coat from the closet and roughly pulling on his boots and gloves. Opening the front door, a frigid wind greeted him, but his anger from being so rudely awaked boiled inside as he watched the stranger continue to shovel the driveway. Mike quickly walked towards the unfamiliar person who was heavily covered in snow gear.  
  
"Hey you! What're you doin'?" He fiercely hollered. The person didn't respond, so he walked over and tapped them on the shoulder. "HEY! I'm talkin' to you!" With a jump, the stranger turned around, and screamed in fright.  
  
"Mikey! Oh my gosh. You scared me!" A ghost white Coates said to the Midshipmen.  
  
"Ma'am! Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted to know who was scooping the drive. Speaking of, why ARE you scooping the drive?"  
  
"Well, what with the Lieutenants not being able to...I've just been helping them out by scooping when it snows, mowing the yard...things like that."  
  
"Oh, well...that's awfully nice of you, Ma'am."  
  
To this statement, Coates simply smiled. "Hey, it seems to be in the job description. And stop calling me Ma'am. We're off duty."  
  
"Sorry, Ma'am...oops." The pair burst out laughing. "I'm sorry, I'm just so used to 'Yes, Ma'am. Yes Sir!'"  
  
"Oh it's alright Mikey."  
  
"Hey, I'll make you a deal. No more Ma'am when we're off-duty, if you promise no more Mikey.... ever."  
  
"I'm sorry! I didn't know you didn't like being called that, Mikey...Mike." Coates corrected herself.  
  
"It's okay. So, you coming to the party tonight?"  
  
"Yeah, in fact, I was going to ask Lieutenant Sims if she needed any help with it. But, uh, I've got to finish this driveway first."  
  
"Let me go grab another shovel, I'll help you."  
  
..............................  
  
"I'll be right back." Coates said as she walked out the door.  
  
"Where's she going?" Mike questioned of his sister-in-law.  
  
"Out to get more crepe paper." A long silence passed between the two busy decorators before Harriet finally broke it. "So, um...I saw you two out there this morning. You seemed to be getting along pretty well."  
  
"Yeah, Jen's nice."  
  
"Jen?"  
  
"Yeah, that's what she told me to call her."  
  
"Oh." Another long silence passed. "Too bad it'd be fraternization."  
  
"WHAT? Fraternization? How'd we make that jump?"  
  
"Oh never mind." Harriet said, a huge grin on her face. "You two would just make a cute couple, that's all."  
  
..............................  
  
2340 ZULU  
  
North of Union Station  
  
Washington, D.C.  
  
"Jen? Maddie? Are you two ready YET?" A very distressed Harm hollered through the Petty Officer's front door for about the sixth time. He nervously glanced down at his watch. "C'mon you two. I had Sergei go start the car ten minutes ago, when you said you'd be ready in a minute."  
  
"Geez, Harm. Lighten up will ya? We're ready!" Maddie said as she and Coates walked into the hall. The conversation dimmed as they walked out to the car, where Sergei sat waiting.  
  
"Well it's about time! Had I been sitting in a garage, I would have died of carbon monoxide poisoning!" Sergei said with a smirk on his face.  
  
"You men just don't understand what we have to go through to look like this. All you have to do is slap on your clothes, maybe put on some cologne, and out the door you go!" A thoroughly exasperated Coates stated.  
  
Sergei laughed, and then suddenly realized that he'd never met the beautiful woman he was talking to. "And you are?"  
  
"Jen Coates. Nice to finally meet the infamous brother of the Commander."  
  
"Likewise."  
  
A tense silence followed as they got situated in the car, and Harm and Maddie exchanged looks.  
  
..............................  
  
Well, I hope you like the story so far...Please let me know if I should continue or not. Sorry the actual party probably won't be out before Valentine's Day. Oh yeah, and definite props to me bud Sancti for beta reading and such. Hehe, the chicken's all gone.  
  
~Nada Zimri~ 


	2. Stupid Cupid

Disclaimer ~ I don't own J.A.G. or any of their characters. Oh, and I also don't own the song "Stupid Cupid" from the movie "The Princess Diaries"...no idea who does own it either. Hehe, now that I put that in there, you can't sue me...HA! I have squelched your evil plans. *looks around wildly* Hello? Anybody there? Hmm...  
  
As for you reviewers.... thank you soo much for not only reading the story, but also REVIEWING! I love you all!  
  
Elizabeth Ayers ~ Thanks. LoL, I'm trying to make it funny...which is sometimes kinda hard.  
  
Tracy ~ Yes, she does need a love in her life. That way, she's happy.... and no more talk of her and Harm getting together *shudders*. As for Gunny...hmm, I never thought about him before...  
  
You know who dis is chickenhead ~ Yeah, I do know who you are, LoL. I'm glad you liked it! Whether you know it or not, your opinion's pretty important to me. I'll try and work on the details more.  
  
Amanda ~ You have no idea how much that means to me. I'm always the one writing that...never hearing it myself. *sniff* It's so nice! Okay, so maybe I'm over-emotional. Anyways, thanks for reviewing!  
  
sportsnut ~ LoL, no promises. I hafta say though, Tiner IS one of my favorites. He's just so...man, I don't even know how to describe him. That could be bad...oh well. You'll just hafta wait and see who she ends up with. :-)  
  
beegirl ~ Thanks. I hafta owe partial plot ownership to sancti though. 'twas her idea to add in a third guy, LoL. Wow, who do I want to win? All three! They all have these special aspects about them. And none of em are terrible to look at either. IDK, we'll just hafta wait and see. LoL, me included!  
  
Laura Carr ~ Thanks! Hope you like this chapter too.  
  
e-dog ~ LoL, it's cool to see that somebody actually acted on the recommendation. Oh and yeah, all three of them. The plot may yet thicken further. We shall see. LoL, feel free to ramble away. Good grief, I do all the time...just look at some of these review responses!  
  
et-spiritus-sancti ~ Yes mother! LoL, I think somebody in this story will hafta eat chicken sooner or later...I mean, its just inevitable...don't ya think? Anyways, thanks for your many compliments!! :-D  
  
Geniphur ~ Heya J-Wo! LoL, I'm glad you liked it. Hehe, maybe now that you know what the heck they all look like, it'll help ya some.  
  
A/N: Okay okay...I admit it. This story has SUCH a girlie-girl mushy plotline. But hey, I haven't exactly heard any complaints so far. I'm gonna try and not make it a Mary-Sue. Sometimes they're just fun though, as long as people don't go completely overboard about how perfectly WONDERFUL everything is...Oops, I appear to be rambling. Umm, anyways, I'm sorry it took so long for the second chapter to come out. School just totally swamped me last week. I'll try to keep to a regular schedule of an update every other Friday. LoL, I need my grace period. And now...on with the story!  
  
Chapter 2: Stupid Cupid  
  
2430 ZULU  
  
Roberts' Home  
  
Rosslyn, Virginia  
  
*Where are they?* Harriet thought to herself for about the sixth time that evening. The commander, Mattie, Jen, and Sergei had not arrived for the party yet, and Harriet was beginning to wonder if they were all right.  
  
"I'm sure they'll be here soon sweetie." Bud offered soothingly to his wife. He could tell that she was worried about the late-arriving party. The fact was, he too was wondering why they weren't there already.  
  
Just then, Mac walked into the kitchen where Bud and Harriet were, preparing to bring out more hors d'oeuvres, and announced that she'd just spoken with Harm.  
  
"He said that they had a tire blowout, and they'll be here as soon as they can. Oh, and he said to tell Harriet to stop worrying, everybody's fine."  
  
At this the three burst out laughing. "I guess he knows me too well." Harriet said through her remaining giggles.  
  
..............................  
  
In the living room, the party thrived. Tiner and Mike stood near the table lined with food, discussing how their various lives at the Academy were going. Sturgis and Varese were attempting to mingle, while secretly both wanted to be alone with the other. The Admiral sat on the couch next to Chloe, who insisted on watching the endless amount of Valentine's Day specials that were on television.  
  
"Aw, c'mon, Admiral! They aren't that bad!" She had said. And in the end, she had won. He had always found it hard to be stern to females. It was a wonder he was succeeding with Coates. Inwardly though, he knew that he needed to apologize to her. She neither knew what was wrong with him, nor had she done anything to cause his wrath to come upon her in such a hurtful way.  
  
"And how much longer am I to be subjected to watching this garbage?" He finally asked Chloe. He was becoming tired of watching all of these lovebirds on the TV.  
  
"Just this one last show, I promise." Chloe said without ever moving her eyes from the screen.  
  
As she was saying this, little A.J. walked in to see a couple kissing on the screen.  
  
"Eww! What're they doing?" The thoroughly grossed out boy asked.  
  
Chloe was finally drawn away from the TV. "Uh, nothing A.J." She managed to choke out.  
  
"Well I think that it's about time we turn it to something else." The Admiral said as he snatched the remote from Chloe's hand. He flipped through many various channels before settling on a Sylvester Stalone marathon on T.N.T. "Oh good. First Blood just started."  
  
At this, Chloe rolled her eyes and settled in for a long night.  
  
..............................  
  
2500 ZULU  
  
Enroute to Roberts' Home  
  
Harm's Car  
  
"I cannot believe that you didn't notice that your tire was about to blow, Harm." Mattie grumbled from her seat in the back of the car. The evening that she had expected to be fun had quickly turned from bad to worse. First, she and Jen had made it so they were going to be late. Then, the car had a blowout. They'd be lucky if they ever got to the party at the rate they were going. *The only good part so far is that I got to meet Harm's brother. And wow, is he hot! * Mattie thought as they continued traveling toward Rosslyn.  
  
"Well it's fixed now, and we'll be there soon." Harm looked at Mattie from the rearview mirror. "You all right back there?"  
  
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"  
  
At this, Jen sarcastically stated, "Well, you usually aren't."  
  
Mattie replied by simply glaring. "Shut up!"  
  
Another long silence followed, but was broken by Sergei. "So do you work at J.A.G. too?" He asked of Jen, a brilliant smile splayed across his face.  
  
"Yes, I'm the Admiral's yeoman." She replied, taking note of his smile. *Wow, now that's the type of smile that'll make a girl melt.*  
  
"Harm, so many beautiful women working with you, and yet you are still single." Sergei said, winking at Jen.  
  
"Ha! You say that as if I'm the only one. You seem to forget you are too, Sergei." Harm retorted, quite forgetting that Sergei was still struggling with the Galina saga. When Sergei flinched at his comment he immediately apologized. "Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way."  
  
"It's all right."  
  
For the rest of the car ride to the Roberts', everyone within the car was silent. No one noticed that Jen was blushing. No one but Mattie, that is.  
  
..............................  
  
2527 ZULU  
  
Roberts' Home  
  
Rosslyn, Virginia  
  
"They're here Mommy, they're here!" Little A.J. squealed.  
  
"Yes sweetie, I see that." Harriet said as she went to open the front door. "Hey you guys!"  
  
"Hey!" They all responded. As the four edged into the room, all who were inside greeted them.  
  
"Glad to see you could make it Commander." The Admiral said.  
  
"We almost didn't." Mattie retorted.  
  
*Oh Lord. Not another one. * The Admiral thought, realizing that there were now two teenage girls around that he would have to deal with.  
  
The party of people had now gradually migrated back to their original places, and the sounds of murmured talking filled the air.  
  
Harm led Mattie over to where Mac and Chloe stood. "Mattie, this is Chloe, Mac's sister...sort of."  
  
His statement was met by three resounding female voices. "Sort of?"  
  
"Well, you know. Not...biologically...but still considered..."  
  
"Yeah, yeah, flyboy. Tighten the noose." said Mac.  
  
"Har har. Well, uh, you two should try hanging around each other. Mac, can I talk to you for a minute?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
As Harm and Mac walked out to the porch to talk, the two girls headed for the TV.  
  
"Sweet, First Blood's on!" Mattie exclaimed happily.  
  
"You actually LIKE these movies?" Chloe asked quite astonished.  
  
"You don't?"  
  
"Of course not." She replied, a disgusted look on her face.  
  
"You're weird."  
  
"So are you!"  
  
"Would you two shut up so I at least can watch the movie?" The Admiral angrily said.  
  
With that, the two immediately shut up, Mattie engrossed and Chloe disgusted.  
  
..............................  
  
Across the room, Coates was talking to Tiner.  
  
"So do you like the Academy?" Coates asked.  
  
"Oh yeah, it's great. Keeps me kind of busy though." Tiner said with a look of disdain,  
  
"Well, that's pretty normal I'd say."  
  
"Yeah, I guess so. Doesn't seem to be keeping Mikey away from his social life though."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Oh nothing. Just he seems to be quite the ladies man."  
  
At this Coates was quite perplexed. A tense silence ensued between the two when Mike walked up.  
  
"So are you having a good time Jen?"  
  
"Yeah, the Lieutenants always throw good parties."  
  
"That they do." Said Sergei, though no one had realized he was there before.  
  
Before they knew it the four were all conversing about the meaning of Valentine's Day.  
  
"Well I think it's only good for a lover's holiday. Nobody really pays attention to the history," was the point of view given by Mike.  
  
"Yes, but the stories that are told of St. Valentine are quite romantic themselves. So the history should be paid attention too." Sergei replied.  
  
"I don't see what it matters really. It's just a fun day to celebrate." Tiner put in.  
  
"Well what do you think, Jen?" Mike queried.  
  
"I-I think...that it's a really romantic holiday. And I like the history of it too." Jen said cringing.  
  
"So you agree with me then?" Sergei grinned.  
  
"Well, I-I..."  
  
"She never said she agreed with you!" Mike's face was growing red with anger.  
  
"But she never said she didn't." Said Tiner, always the light-hearted peacemaker.  
  
Jen mouthed a quick "thank you" to Tiner. Then she quickly and quietly walked away from the three men who had set to work arguing over what she did or didn't agree with.  
  
..............................  
  
2630 ZULU  
  
Mac slowly walked over to where Chloe sat emotionless in front of the seemingly never-ending marathon. "Are you ready to go Chloe?"  
  
Chloe shot up out of her seat, "Yes." She said, perhaps a little too eagerly.  
  
Mac raised her eyebrow, but was too lost in thought to give much thought to Chloe's eagerness. The two walked over to where their purses and Chloe's coat sat, and put them on. "Well, Harriet. It was a great party, but Chloe and I need to be getting home now."  
  
"Are you sure Ma'am?" Harriet was puzzled, seeing as it was only 2130.  
  
"Yeah, we've got a big day planned tomorrow."  
  
Now it was Chloe's turn to be puzzled. "We do? Ow!" She grimaced as Mac elbowed her hard in the ribs.  
  
"Yeah, we do. Remember? We're..." Mac had to think for a second. "We're going shopping."  
  
Chloe grinned. "Oh YEAH! That's right."  
  
"Well, okay than Colonel. Glad you two came." Harriet disdainfully watched the two leave. It wasn't like the Colonel to leave so early.  
  
..............................  
  
On the other side of the room, Coates was talking to Bud about the odd behavior of Tiner, Mike, and Sergei.  
  
"But sir...they're acting really...strange. Granted I don't know Sergei hardly at all, but Tiner and Mike... They're acting really strange."  
  
"What do you mean? They seem fine to me."  
  
"They're arguing over who's opinion of Valentine's Day is closest to mine."  
  
Bud chuckled. "Really? That is strange."  
  
"Sir, you're mocking me aren't you?"  
  
Still grinning Bud replied, "Yep."  
  
To this, Coates rolled her eyes and walked away.  
  
..............................  
  
2700 ZULU  
  
Mac's Apartment  
  
Georgetown, Virginia  
  
Mac and Chloe were slowly working there way to bed, but neither one was too anxious to sleep.  
  
"So are you gonna tell me what you and Harm were talking about?"  
  
"Huh?" Mac attempted to play dumb.  
  
"You heard me. I know that's why you wanted to leave so early. Something must've happened out there."  
  
"Nothing that I want to talk about right now."  
  
"All right then. Night."  
  
"Night."  
  
With that, they parted their separate ways in the apartment and attempted to sleep.  
  
..............................  
  
0500 ZULU  
  
North of Union Station  
  
Washington, D.C.  
  
"I am so tired!" Mattie complained as she and Jen walked into their apartment.  
  
"Yeah, so am I."  
  
"Uh huh. Oh, by the way. They love scene in the back of the car tonight positively inspired me!"  
  
"What?!" At this statement Jen was startled.  
  
"You know what I'm talking about. You and Sergei...sittin' in a tree..."  
  
"Shut up!"  
  
"Make me."  
  
Jen grabbed a pillow off of the couch and began beating Mattie with it.  
  
"Hey! No fair. I don't have a weapon."  
  
The two began running around the apartment wildly, first Jen chasing Mattie, then Mattie chasing Jen. Finally, they settled down and sunk into the couch.  
  
"Phew! Now I'm really tired." Jen exhaustedly said.  
  
"You're the one who was chasing me."  
  
"Yeah, well.... good night." Jen got up and headed for bed.  
  
Mattie did the same, but not before putting in one more punch. "G'night, Mrs. Zhukov!"  
  
..............................  
  
A/N ~ Well, hope it lived up to your expectations. Sorry it's so late. Had some...er...problems this week. LoL, I saw "The Passion of the Christ" on Wednesday...good stuff! Very emotionally draining though. See ya in two weeks!  
  
~Nada Zimri~ 


End file.
